The Words You Should Know to Sound Smart (14 page)

A political movement or policy that appeals to the masses—the average working man or woman—not the upper class.

portent
(poor-TENT), noun

A warning sign that something bad is going to happen.

In Ray Bradbury’s novel
Something Wicked This Way Comes,
the carnival coming to town is a PORTENT of evil things to come.

posit
(PAHZ-it), verb

To suggest or propose a theory or explanation, especially one that represents new, unusual, or non-obvious thinking and conclusions.

Astronomers POSIT that Jupiter may sustain life in its clouds.

postulate
(PA-stew-late), verb

To arrive at a theory, belief, hypothesis, or principle based upon an analysis of known facts.

“The primacy of human personality has been a POSTULATE both of Christianity and of liberal democracy.” – Julian Huxley, English evolutionary biologist

potentate
(POH-ten-tayt), noun

A powerful dictator, king, leader, or ruler.

A much-feared POTENTATE, Victor Von Doom ruled Latvia with an iron fist.

pragmatism
(PRAG-muh-tiz-um), noun

The belief that one’s actions should be guided primarily based on knowledge or opinion of what is likely to work best in a given situation; the imperative to always do what is practical and effective.

Our families have succeeded in amassing great wealth over many generations because we are all, at heart, practitioners of PRAGMATISM.

prattle
(PRAT-l), verb

To babble; to talk nonstop without regard as to whether what you are saying makes sense or is of any interest to the listener.

“Infancy conforms to nobody: all conform to it, so that one babe commonly makes four or five out of the adults who PRATTLE and play to it.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet, essayist, and transcendentalist

precarious
(prih-KAYR-ee-us), adjective

Tenuous; positioned so as to be in danger of falling; unsecured.

precipitous
(pri-SIP-ih-tuss), adjective

A steep drop, precarious position, unstable situation, volatile market, or rapid and sudden change.

Investors were stung Friday by a PRECIPITOUS drop in the Dow.

predestination
(pree-dess-tih-NAY-shun), noun

The belief that we do not have free will, and that our lives and destinies are preordained and beyond our control.

The problem with PREDESTINATION is that whatever happens, you can say that it was meant to be, and no one can prove you wrong.

premonitory
(PREH-mahn-ih-tor-ee), adjective

Strongly indicative of or intuiting that something is going to happen.

The Harrisons sold their stock in that company because they had a PREMONITORY vision that the company would soon go bankrupt.

prestidigitation
(PRESS-tih-dih-ji-TAY-shun), noun

The performance of sleight-of-hand magic tricks.

The New Year’s Eve gala at the Worthingtons included sumptuous meals, a full orchestra, and even a practitioner of PRESTIDIGITATION who amazed the children with her performance.

preternatural
(pree-tur-NACH-err-uhl), adjective

Both supernatural and
preternatural
describe things that are out of the norm. But supernatural implies forces beyond understanding, while
preternatural
simply means abnormal or unnatural.

“I rested my knee against the cabinet for leverage and pulled hard, calling on PRETERNATURAL strength.” – Mario Acevedo, American fantasy author

prima facie
(pree-ma-FAY-shuh), adjective, adverb

Something accepted upon the face of the evidence until further examination proves or disproves it.

We have PRIMA FACIE evidence that it was Evelyn who fed those lies to the society page gossip columnists.

primordial
(pry-MORE-dee-ul), adjective

Relating to the beginning of time or the early periods of Earth’s developments.

The Summerfelds’ fortune has been in the family for so long that many of us joke that it has PRIMORDIAL origins.

proctor
(PROHK-ter), noun

One who manages or supervises another person’s activities and affairs.

A life of luxury would be so exhausting if it weren’t for the many PROCTORS who take care of our mundane activities.

procure
(pro-KYORE), verb

To seek and eventually gain ownership of something.

My book dealer recently PROCURED, at considerable expense, a first edition of
Great Expectations
for our library.

profligate
(PROF-lih-gayt), adjective

Extravagant; wasteful; activity, expenditures, or indulgences beyond that which any reasonable person would desire.

“The official account of the Church’s development viewed alternative voices as expressing the views of a misguided minority, craven followers of contemporary culture, PROFLIGATE sinners, or worse.” – Harold Attridge, Dean of Yale University Divinity School

pro forma
(pro-FOR-mah), adverb, adjective, noun

Standard; following a commonly accepted format or process.

“Don’t worry about reading the fine print,” the manager told the young singer as he shoved the contract in front of him and put a pen in his hand. “It’s just PRO FORMA.”

proletariat
(pro-leh-TARE-ee-uht), noun

A class of society whose members earn their living solely by the exchange of their labor for money.

Your average dentist thinks he is upper class, but in reality, he is just another member of the PROLETARIAT.

prolixity
(pro-LICK-sih-tee), noun

Refers to a speech or piece of writing that is deliberately wordy and long-winded due to an ornate or formal style.

“The writer who loses his self-doubt, who gives way as he grows old to a sudden euphoria, to PROLIXITY, should stop writing immediately: the time has come for him to lay aside his pen.” – Colette, French novelist

promulgate
(PRAH-mull-gate), verb

To elevate a behavior or action—or the prohibition of a particular behavior or action—to the status of a law, rule, or regulation through public decree.

The Department of Public Works PROMULGATED mandatory recycling of all paper waste in Bergen County.

propagate
(PRAH-pah-gayt), verb

To grow, breed, or cause to multiply and flourish.

propensity
(pro-PEN-sih-tee), noun

A tendency to behave in a certain way.

Despite her vehement denials, Virginia has shown us a PROPENSITY toward pomposity.

propriety
(pro-PRY-ah-tee), noun

Behaving in a way that conforms to the manners and morals of polite society.

propitiate
(pro-PISH-ee-ate), verb

To win over; to gain the approval and admiration of.

“The life that went on in [many of the street’s houses] seemed to me made up of evasions and negations; shifts to save cooking, to save washing and cleaning, devices to PROPITIATE the tongue of gossip.” – Willa Cather, American author

proscribe
(pro-SCRIBE), transitive verb

To forbid or prohibit; frequently confused with the word “prescribe.”

State law PROSCRIBES the keeping of wild animals as house pets.

proxy
(PRAHK-see), noun

The authority, typically in writing, to represent someone else or manage their affairs; a person authorized to act on the behalf of others.

While his mother was ill, Larry acted as her PROXY and made hospitalization decisions on her behalf.

puerile
(PYOO-er-ill), adjective

Immature, babyish, infantile.

“An admiral whose PUERILE vanity has betrayed him into a testimonial … [is] sufficient to lure the hopeful patient to his purchase.” – Samuel Hopkins Adams, American journalist

pugnacious
(pug-NAY-shus), adjective

Some who always wants to argue and debate every last thing.

Teenagers are PUGNACIOUS by nature: if I say “no,” he invariably asks “why.”

purport
(per-PORT), verb

Claiming to be something you are not; pretending to do something you aren’t in fact doing.

“Doris Lessing PURPORTS to remember in the most minute detail the moth-eaten party dresses she pulled, at age thirteen, from her mother’s trunk.” – Tim Parks, British novelist

pusillanimous
(pyoo-suh-LAN-ih-muss), adjective

Being mild or timid by nature; a shrinking violet; a person who seeks to avoid conflict, challenge, and danger.

Frank L. Baum’s most PUSILLANIMOUS fictional creation is the Cowardly Lion of Oz.

pyre
(PIE-err), noun

A pile of wood and twigs, lit on fire to burn bodies during funerals.

Suzette was so devastated when her fiancé ran off with another socialite that she took his belongings and burned them on a metaphorical funeral PYRE.

pyrrhic
(PIR-ick), adjective

A prize or victory won at the cost of an effort that exceeds its value.

Spending $20 at the carnival game to win his child a stuffed animal worth $5 was a PYRRHIC victory at best.

quaff
(KWAF), verb

To drink with gusto and in large volume.

quagmire
(KWAG-myer), noun

A thorny problem for which there is no ready solution; a messy situation from which there is no expeditious means of escape.

“Your home is regarded as a model home, your life as a model life. But all this splendor, and you along with it … it’s just as though it were built upon a shifting QUAGMIRE.” – Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian playwright

qualm
(KWAHM), noun

A sudden feeling of uneasiness, often linked to a pang in one’s conscience.

Of course we feel no QUALMS about wanting the finest things in life; that is the legacy our forefathers bequeathed to us.

quandary
(KWON-duh-ree), noun

A state of uncertainty about one’s next move.

Estelle realized that her unrestrained comments to the society pages had left the rest of us quite upset, and she was in a QUANDARY as to how to repair the situation.

quash
(KWAHSH), verb

To repress or subdue completely.

She quickly QUASHED the rebellion of the other members of the PTO by reminding them of the superiority of her social contacts.

quaver
(KWAY-ver), verb

To tremble and shake from fear, excitement, etc.

Eloise positively QUAVERED as she made her debut at her coming out party.

quean
(KWEEN), noun

A disreputable woman; a prostitute.

Esmerelda can act like such a QUEAN when her boyfriends do not automatically give her the luxury items she requires.

quell
(KWELL), verb

To suppress or extinguish; or, to quiet one’s own or another’s anxieties.

“O the orator’s joys! / To inflate the chest, to roll the thunder of the voice out from the ribs and throat, / To make the people rage, weep, hate, desire, with yourself, / To lead America—to QUELL America with a great tongue.” – Walt Whitman, American poet and humanist

querulous
(KWER-eh-luss), adjective

Describes a person who continually whines and complains about practically everything.

Their QUERULOUS manner with the waiter made them unpleasant and embarrassing dinner companions.

quibble
(KWIB-ul), noun

To argue over a minor matter; to voice a niggling objection.

If you are not 100 percent satisfied, your money will promptly be refunded without question or QUIBBLE.

quid pro quo
(KWID-pro-kwo), noun

A fair exchange of assets or services; a favor given in return for something of equal value.

In a QUID PRO QUO, Stephen helped Alex with his math homework, while Alex did Stephen’s chores.

quiescent
(kwee-ESS-ehnt), adjective

Being at rest, inactive, or motionless.

“There is a brief time for sex, and a long time when sex is out of place. But when it is out of place as an activity there still should be the large and quiet space in the consciousness where it lives QUIESCENT.” – D. H. Lawrence, British author

quietus
(kwy-EET-uhs), noun

Something that ends or settles a situation.

quintessential
(KWIN-tuh-sen-shul), adjective

The most perfect or typical example of its category or kind.

“Craving that old sweet oneness yet dreading engulfment, wishing to be our mother’s and yet be our own, we stormily swing from mood to mood, advancing and retreating—the QUINTESSENTIAL model of two-mindedness.” – Judith Viorst, American author and psychoanalyst

quirk
(KWIHRK), noun

A peculiarity of one’s personality or manner.

One of the most omnipresent QUIRKS of the nouveau riche is that they still ask the price of a luxury item, rather than simply offering to purchase it.

quisling
(KWIZ-ling), noun

A traitor; a person who conspires with the enemy.

The leader of Norway’s National Unity movement was executed for being a QUISLING in 1945.

quixotic
(kwik-SOT-ick), adjective

A person or team pursuing a seemingly unreachable or at least extremely ambitious and difficult goal—one considered by many to be either idealist, impractical, or both.

“There is something QUIXOTIC in me about money, something meek and guilty. I want it and like it. But I cannot imagine insisting on it, pressing it out of people.” – Brenda Ueland, American author

quizzical
(KWIHZ-ih-kuhl), adjective

Unusual or comical; or, puzzled.

The QUIZZICAL look on Amanda’s face, when David trailed a marriage-proposal banner behind his private plane, was absolutely priceless.

quondam
(KWAHN-dumm), adjective

Former; at-one-time.

You should not hire the Wilkersons’ QUONDAM servant because she has been known to break many objets d’art.

quotidian
(kwo-TID-ee-an), adjective

Familiar; commonplace; nothing out of the ordinary.

Despite closets full of the latest Parisian couture, Alison’s QUOTIDIAN complaint is that she has “nothing to wear.”